Area Development
Bosch North America launched its Center for Artificial Intelligence Research Lab in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The facility will be the BCAI’s fourth location. The lab will conduct advanced research in artificial intelligence technologies.

Bosch Center for Artificial Intelligence will partner with Carnegie Mellon University to accelerate AI research. In addition, Bosch will provide more than $8 million to sponsor research at Carnegie Mellon University through 2023. This collaboration represents another important milestone in the longstanding and mutually beneficial partnership between Bosch and the world-renowned university. Having established a presence in Pittsburgh in 1999, Bosch said it has played an important role in fostering the development of Pittsburgh’s flourishing tech community.

BCAI Pittsburgh is the most recent addition to BCAI’s locations around the globe, Renningen, Germany; Sunnyvale, California; and Bangalore, India. According to company officials, “the new location is the next step in BCAI’s mission to partner with leading institutions around the world to jointly accelerate AI research. Bosch plans to build a team of up to 20 AI experts at Bosch’s Pittsburgh Technology Center by the end of 2019.”

The launch of the BCAI Research Lab in Pittsburgh is highlighted by CMU’s Professor Zico Kolter joining Bosch as chief scientist in AI. Kolter, an assistant professor at CMU’s School of Computer Science, will direct the multi-million dollar research projects at CMU, in addition to contributing to Bosch’s global R&D efforts as a principal member of the BCAI.

Kolter, a leading expert in AI research, develops methods that make machine learning more robust, interpretable and modular. He also has worked on applications for smart energy and sustainability solutions. Some of his recent work looks specifically at machine learning methods that are provably resistant to so-called “adversarial attacks” and methods for incorporating optimization procedures as modules within the loop of more complex deep learning systems.

“We’re excited to establish BCAI Research in Pittsburgh with Zico Kolter as part of the long-term collaboration between CMU and Bosch,” said Christoph Peylo, Global Head of BCAI. “CMU, with its tradition as one of the leading institutions in AI research, is an important pillar in BCAI’s mission to develop safe, robust and secure AI for Bosch products and services.”

“We at Carnegie Mellon are excited to be working with Bosch to find new ways to use artificial intelligence to improve lives and to develop the next generation of AI scientists,” said Andrew Moore, dean of CMU’s School of Computer Science. “Bosch will benefit greatly from Zico Kolter’s insights, while Zico continues his essential research and teaching here at Carnegie Mellon.”